Sunday, July 05, 2015

Nairn Healthcare News July 2015

Another newsletter from Nairn Healthcare Group:

Income maximisation midwifery project 

As a new mother-to-be, you could be unsure of maternity and child benefits including child tax credit and childcare vouchers. If so, the Citizen Advice Bureau is here to help. 

Midwives will offer a referral to the Citizen Advice Bureau at your initial booking appointment. A CAB advisor will then be in touch with you to arrange either a telephone appointment, or a face-to-face appointment at the local office or here at the surgery. They will discuss which benefits you may be entitled to plus explain more about employment, maternity/paternity leave and flexible working. 

Pregnancy is a good time to receive a financial health check with the aim of putting more money in your pocket so you can give your family the best financial start in life.

For more information, please contact your midwife.

BBQ and Food Safety

Summer is upon us...and BBQ and picnic season will soon be in full swing. Unfortunately, this is the time of year we seem to see a rise in food poisoning largely due to the Campylobacter bug – the most common cause for food poisoning in Scotland. Eating raw or undercooked meat is one of the most common ways people can get food poisoning.

To avoid the campylobacter bug, avoid cross contamination of raw and cooked meat. Always wash your hands after handing raw meat and use different utensils for cooked and raw meat. It is also safer to cook the chicken in the oven and finish off on the BBQ for flavour. Also, disposable BBQs take longer to cook so remember to check that your food is cooked properly.

Eating al-fresco on a summer’s day is an all-too-rare treat in Scotland and we certainly don’t want food poisoning to spoil this.

For more information on BBQ and picnic safety, head to www.foodstandards.gov.scot/news/eat-safe-summer


SPECIALISED CLINICS – APRIL/MAY

As well as dealing with the usual GP appointments, Nairn Healthcare offers specialised clinics. Over April and May, as well as dealing with 4,777 patients routinely, we saw 280 patients that required either a minor operation, fitting of a coil or nexplanon, a vasectomy, an occupational health review, a specialised skin review or an abdominal aortic aneurysm screen.

Hydrotherapy Pool

It is disappointing for the Practice that we have been instructed by Mr Sieczkarek (Area Manager South – NHS Highland) to cease referring patients into Hydrotherapy.

This is not a decision that has been made by the Practice. Any issue should be taken up with

Mr Jean-Pierre Sieczkarek via NHS Highland at the following address:

Area Manager South
South and Mid-Operational Unit
Alder House
Cradlehall Business Park
INVERNESS
IV2 5GH

Tel: 01463 706930 Fax: 01463 794713


Citizens Advice Bureau

We would like to remind our patients of the great Citizen Advice Bureau service we have available at the surgery.

Our link worker, Lynn Main, has successfully saved patients over £52,000 in the last 12 months and the CAB project has been extended for a further 12 months in-house here at the surgery.

Debt, benefits, allowances, welfare rights, housing and employment are just some of the areas Lynn can cover.

To book an appointment, please call 01667 422735 Mon-Wed between 10am -3pm. Out with these times, an appointment can be made at the local Citizen Advice Bureau office.

1 comment:

sink or swim said...

It is interesting, and disturbing, to read that the decision to cease referring patients to the Hydrotherapy Pool (and to look instead to HighLife leisure facilities) was "an instruction from NHS Highland", not a policy choice made by the local GP practice (who clearly do not endorse or accept the NHS Highland decision).

What happened to the idea that GP practices should have the power and the responsibility to commission services and refer patients for appropriate specialist treatment or further consultation?

If I were in need of therapy, I'd rather my treatment or rehabilitation was decided by my GP on the basis of clinical judgment, than by a health service administrator who is not a practising doctor and whom I have never seen, or a leisure pool manager with no medical expertise.